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Beef Caprese Skewers

Seared sirloin, tomato, mozzarella and basil on a stick, finished with a balsamic glaze you reduce yourself.

Prep
20 min
Cook
10 min
Makes
Makes 24 skewers
Jump to the recipe
Cherry tomato, mozzarella and basil skewers drizzled with balsamic
Photo: Tahir Xəlfəquliyev / Pexels

Caprese is three ingredients and a glaze, which means each one is exposed. There is nowhere for a mealy winter tomato to hide. Adding beef changes the arithmetic: a cube of seared sirloin turns a light salad on a stick into something that can open a meal, and its fat and char give the acid of the tomato and the balsamic something to push against.

Buy the tomatoes at room temperature and keep them there. Refrigeration below about 54°F (12°C) permanently destroys the enzymes that produce tomato aroma — this is measurable, not folklore, and the damage does not reverse when they warm up again. A cold tomato tastes of water and acid because that is all it has left.

Sirloin is the right cut here, and the reason is shape rather than tenderness. You need cubes that hold a square edge through searing and threading, and sirloin has the grain and density to do that. Ribeye is richer but falls apart on a stick once it warms. Whatever you use, cut it into one-inch cubes: smaller and the centre is overcooked before the outside browns, larger and it is awkward to eat in one bite.

Sear hot, briefly, and only on the faces that will show. A very hot pan, ninety seconds a side on two sides, and the cube comes out browned outside and pink through the middle. Beef eaten at room temperature is unforgiving about overcooking — the juices that hide a well-done cube while it is hot have set by the time it reaches the platter.

Then let it cool completely before it goes anywhere near the mozzarella. This is the step that separates a good plate from a sad one. Warm beef against fresh mozzarella softens the cheese into something greasy and weeping, and the basil pressed between them wilts and goes dark. Fifteen minutes on a rack is enough.

Make the glaze rather than buying it. Balsamic vinegar reduced by two-thirds takes eight minutes and costs a fraction of the bottled version, which is mostly caramel color and thickener. It should coat a spoon and fall in a slow ribbon; it thickens further as it cools, so stop earlier than feels right.

The balsamic reduction here is the same one used on beet and goat cheese salad, so it is worth making a full jar.

Assemble within an hour of serving. Mozzarella weeps salt water, and the basil blackens where it touches the balsamic — which is why the glaze goes on at the table and not in the kitchen.

Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil on a plate
Photo: congerdesign / Pixabay

Beef caprese skewers, printed

Seared sirloin, tomato, mozzarella and basil on a stick, finished with a balsamic glaze you reduce yourself.

Beef, three ingredients and a glaze

For the beef

  • 1 lb (450 g) sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ¾ tsp fine salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper

For the skewers

  • 14 oz (400 g) cherry tomatoes, room temperature
  • 14 oz (400 g) mozzarella pearls, drained
  • Large bunch of basil, about 48 leaves
  • 2 tbsp good olive oil
  • Flaky salt and black pepper
  • 24 short skewers or cocktail sticks

For the glaze

  • 1 cup (240 ml) balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey

Searing, cooling and threading

  1. 1 Toss the beef cubes with the oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes — cold beef straight from the fridge will not brown in the time it has.
  2. 2 Simmer the balsamic and honey in a small pan over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes, until reduced by about two-thirds. Stop while it still runs off a spoon — it sets as it cools. Cool completely.
  3. 3 Heat a heavy skillet or grill pan until it is just smoking. Sear the cubes in two batches, 90 seconds on each of two opposite faces, until well browned outside and still pink within. Do not crowd the pan.
  4. 4 Move the beef to a rack and let it cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Warm beef melts mozzarella and blackens basil.
  5. 5 Drain the mozzarella well and pat it dry. Wet cheese slides off a skewer and dilutes the glaze.
  6. 6 Thread each skewer: tomato, folded basil leaf, mozzarella, second basil leaf, beef cube.
  7. 7 Arrange on a platter, drizzle with olive oil, and season with flaky salt and pepper.
  8. 8 Drizzle the cooled glaze over just before serving.

On mozzarella, beef and tomatoes

  • The glaze keeps a month in a jar at room temperature and is worth making double.
  • Bocconcini, halved, work if you cannot find pearls. Do not use a block — it is drier and squeaks.
  • Leave the beef off entirely for a vegetarian platter. The skewers are shorter but the balance still works.
  • Sear the beef up to 4 hours ahead and keep it at room temperature, covered. Refrigerating it firms the fat and dulls the flavour.
  • Flank or skirt steak works if you slice it across the grain into ribbons and fold them onto the stick rather than cubing.

Making this italian appetizer ahead

Assemble up to an hour ahead and keep them covered at room temperature. Glaze at the last minute; earlier and the basil goes black where it touches.

Two causes, and usually both. The pearls were threaded straight from their brine without drying, and the beef was still warm. Pat the cheese dry on paper towels and let the beef cool completely first.

Medium-rare, and no more. These are eaten at room temperature, where the juices have set and there is nothing to disguise a dry cube. Ninety seconds a side on two faces of a one-inch cube gets you there in a properly hot pan.

You can, and on a plate this bare you will taste the difference. Most bottled glaze is thickened grape must with caramel colour, sweeter and flatter than a reduction. Eight minutes of simmering is the whole job.

Short ones, about 4 inches. Anything longer and the skewer bends under the beef when it is picked up, and the tomato slides. Cocktail sticks are too short once beef is on there.